University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 5-2013 Pioneers, proclamations, and patents : a narrative of the conquest, division, settlement, and transformation of Kentucky. Brandon Michael Robison 1986- University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Recommended Citation Robison, Brandon Michael 1986-, "Pioneers, proclamations, and patents : a narrative of the conquest, division, settlement, and transformation of Kentucky." (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1222. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/1222 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. 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PIONEERS, PROCLAMATIONS, AND PATENTS: A NARRATIVE OF THE CONQUEST, DIVISION, SETTLEMENT, AND TRANSFORMATION OF KENTUCKY By Brandon Michael Robison B.A., Southern Adventist University, 2009 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Louisville In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of History University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky May 2013 PIONEERS, PROCLAMATIONS, AND PATENTS: A NARRATIVE OF THE CONQUEST, DIVISION, SETTLEMENT, AND TRANSFORMATION OF KENTUCKY By Brandon Michael Robison B.A., Southern Adventist University, 2009 A Thesis Approved on April 26, 2013 by the following Thesis Committee: _____________________________ Dr. Glenn Crothers Thesis Director ______________________________ Dr.Garry Sparks ______________________________ Dr. John Cumbler ii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my wife Whitney Elaine Robison who has supported and encouraged me so much throughout this process. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my professor Dr. Glenn Crothers for his incredible patience, support, and guidance in the development of this thesis. Without his assistance, this paper would not exist in its current state. The copious hours he spent editing multiple drafts helped refine both my argument and my prose. I would also like to thank Dr. Daniel Krebs for his inspiration and encouragement in this process. His classes provided the original inspiration for this work, and he played the role of mentor throughout this process. iv ABSTRACT PIONEERS, PROCLAMATIONS, AND PATENTS: A NARRATIVE OF THE CONQUEST, DIVISION, SETTLEMENT, AND TRANSFORMATION OF KENTUCKY Brandon M. Robison May 1, 2013 This study provides a narrative of Revolutionary Kentucky, focused on three key areas. First, it traces the struggle Native Americans, white settlers and speculators, and the various colonial, state, imperial, and national governments that claimed the territory for control and possession of Kentucky’s lands in the late eighteenth century. Second, this study focuses on the long-term effects of the struggle over Kentucky’s lands, paying particular attention to Virginia’s land laws of 1778-79, which created the framework by which the state distributed Kentucky’s land, and based on poor implementation of Jeffersonian notions of republicanism and allodial land ownership. Third, this study examines. The region's transition from an Indian hunting ground to an agricultural economy radically changed the ecology; seeing the elimination of Kentucky’s bison as an archetype of the broader environmental changes taking place. This study argues, in short, that the conflict over the use and ownership of Kentucky lands dramatically impacted Native Americans, Euro-Americans, the future course of western settlement, and the ecology of the region itself. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................ v INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 1 Purpose ........................................................................................................................................ 2 Questions ..................................................................................................................................... 3 Literature and Historiography ...................................................................................................... 4 Primary Sources ........................................................................................................................... 6 Challenges .................................................................................................................................... 7 Significance .................................................................................................................................. 8 CHAPTER 1: “KENTUCKEE” ............................................................................................................ 10 “A Beautiful Prospect:” “Kentuckee” as a Geographical and Ecological Construct ................... 10 A Hunting Preserve: Kentucky’s Environment under Indian Stewardship ................................. 13 Indians and Kentucky’s Lands .................................................................................................... 17 Virginia’s Claims to the West ..................................................................................................... 20 A Gentleman’s Club: Planters, Politics, and Profits.................................................................... 22 The Virginia Land Companies and the Seven Years War ........................................................... 27 Speculation, Veterans Grants, and the Proclamation of 1763 .................................................. 30 Treaties ...................................................................................................................................... 34 Explorers and Long Hunters: White Men in an Indian Hunting Ground .................................... 36 Lord Dunmore’s War .................................................................................................................. 40 First Settlements and the Coming Revolution ........................................................................... 42 Chapter 2: LAWS, LAND, AND WAR .............................................................................................. 45 Kentucky, Virginia, and the Revolutionary War ......................................................................... 45 The Revolutionary War in Virginia ............................................................................................. 46 vi The Revolution in Kentucky ....................................................................................................... 47 George Rogers Clark and the Campaign in the Old Northwest ................................................. 50 Native Americans and the American Revolution ....................................................................... 52 Legal Status ................................................................................................................................ 55 Confused Loyalties ..................................................................................................................... 58 A Tale of Two Governors ............................................................................................................ 59 A Summary of the Factors Influencing the Passage of the Land Laws of 1779 ......................... 64 The Best of Intentions: The Land Laws of 1779 ......................................................................... 66 CHAPTER 3: A LEGACY ................................................................................................................... 70 A Legislative Legacy in the West ................................................................................................ 70 1779: Immediate Effects of the Land Law ................................................................................. 70 Problems with Preemptions ...................................................................................................... 72 Problems with the Warrant Office ............................................................................................. 74 The Failure of the Military Component of the Land Laws ......................................................... 77 Petitions and Independence ...................................................................................................... 82 The Land Laws and Statehood ................................................................................................... 84 Jefferson and His Land Laws ...................................................................................................... 87 The Legacy of Virginia’s Policies on Other States and Northwest Ordinances in Ohio ............. 89 Native Americans ......................................................................................................................